#10. Kid Nation
CBS

It was buried in controversy before it ever aired and received indifferent ratings once it finally did. But after all the posturing, this reality show about 40 kids repopulating a ghost town in New Mexico turns out simply to be an intriguing, even earnest little show about group dynamics and ethics (free of the usual "voting off the island" competition). And it is a rare chance, in the age of overscheduling and helicopter parents, to see kids thriving and risking without the constant involvement of adults. Except for the ones holding the cameras.